North-East shuts down, Tamil protests gain momentum

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 April 2017, 22:18 GMT]Only the notorious ‘Special Task Force’ (STF) commandos of genocidal Sri Lanka and street dogs were plying the roads of Jaffna city on Thursday when North-East was brought to a complete standstill by trade unions, civil groups and the struggle-centric political parties among the Eezham Tamils, heeding the call from the families of enforced-disappeared people in Vanni. The shutdown also received the support of Tamil-speaking Muslims at several places in the North-East. Even a trade union, which was reluctant to heed the call extended full support in Vavuniyaa. The shutdown was a big blow to the promoters of the genocidal concept of Sri Lanka, its ‘strategic’ partners and their collaborators, commented Tamil activists in Jaffna.

The call for complete shut down was a big success, protesting Tamils in Mullaiththeevu, Vavuniyaa and Ki'linochchi told TamilNet.

The people in the South, the Sri Lankan State and the International Community should grasp the message delivered by the people in the North-East through this total shutdown, said Northern Provincial Council Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran in his address to the council, which postponed its sitting extending full support to the protest.

The total standstill of North-East on Thursday was an outcome of the desire for unified action by the Tamil speaking people, Justice Wigneswaran said. Even Sinhala people in the North-East were supportive of the protest, he added.

The protesting families blocked the A9 Highway at Ki'linochchi and in Vavuniyaa.

SL Police was prepared for forcing the protesters from blocking the A9 road. But, the action was called off after the political ‘counter-insurgency’ sections of the occupying military, engaged in deceptive measures, wanted to restrain violent response at this juncture, informed paramilitary sources in Ki'linochchi said.

The STF is an extended arm of the SL military, organized as a full-fledged military under the SL Police Department. Trained by ‘retired’ British Special Air Service mercenaries in early 80's, the STF has been directly involved in the genocidal crimes for a long time, particularly in the East.

The new regime of Maithiripala and Wickramasinghe, has deployed the STF widely in North. There are currently more than 8,000 STF personnel attached to 69 camps across the North-East.